Apparatus for holding a door open



March 2, 1937. MANN 2,072,525

APPARATUS FOR HOLDING A DOOR OPEN Filed Feb. 3, 1956 Patented Mar. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

My invention relates to an apparatus for holding a door open, more particularly used for garage doors or the like, and the objects of my invention are:

First, to provide an apparatus for holding a door open which will hold the door against ordinary wind pressure but may be closed by simply taking hold of the door and forcing it in closed position.

Second, to provide an apparatus of this class which is automatic in its action so that when the door is open to a position substantially at right angles to the door opening it is latched against closing but may be closed by pressure on the free side of the door only.

Third, to provide an apparatus of this class which is wholly automatic in its action and only requires manual pressure for operation.

Fourth, to provide an apparatus of this class which is supported at the top of the door and in the door casing above the door so that it is up out of the way.

Fifth, to provide an apparatus of this class which is very simple and economical of construction, easy to operate, easy to install, efllcient in its action and which will not readily deteriorate or get out of order.

With these and other objects in view as will appear hereinafter, my invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the characters of reference thereon which form a part of this application in which:

F ure 1 is a o or P a Vi w of a n u -h w n a n w h he doo wh c u ly op n; F g.- 2 is a S mi ar view showing the position of th ap a u w h th Q Bas a c sed and sh w n by d t d lin s s ta open po ition; Fi 3 is a sid elevation l vi w m the line i 01 Fig. 1; Fix. 4 is an. en arged fragmen ary op view showing the main operating portions of th 5 structure in their position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing; Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the same in their position after starting to close the door; Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the position of the operating parts when the door is about one-half closed; Fig. 7 is a sectional view from the line of Fig. 4; and Fig. 8 a sectional view from the line 88 of Fig. 4.

Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts and portions throughout the several views of the drawing.

The bar I, roller 2, roller supporting pin 3, latch member 4, latch screws 5, bar 6, spring I, and latch member 8, constitute the principal parts and portions of my apparatus for holding a door open.

The bar I, is. pivotally mounted on a bifurcated bracket in, which is secured outwardly on the door toward the free side near the upper end thereof as shown best in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawing, the door being designated D. This bar I is provided with a. pin 3 secured therein extending from the normally upper side thereof as shown best in'Fig. 4 of the drawing. Revolubly mounted upon this pin 3 is a roller 2 and said roller spaced from the upper side of the bar I at its lower side substantially the thickness of the bar 6 which is inserted between the roller 2 and the bar I. Secured on the opposite end of the bar I from the bracket la is a latch member 4 which is U-shaped as shown best in Fig. 7 of the drawing and is adapted to receive the member 6 which is shiftably mounted therein. This U- member 4 is provided in its normally upper side with a slot 4a which is adapted to receive the body of the screw 5 which is adapted to be shifted into and out of said slot 4o. with the longitudinal shifting of the bars I and 6 relatively to each other. The extended end of the bar 6 is provided with a hole Sal therein shown best in Fig. 3 of the drawing, adapted to receive a screw or pin for pivotally supporting the bar 6 in the door frame at the upper side thereof. The bar 6 is provided with a screw 61) for securing the one end of the spring 1 which is a tension spring.

The opposite end of the spring I connects with 1 the latch member 8 at its free end at point 8a.

This latch member 8 is pivotally mounted at 8b near theend of the bar 6. latch B has a circular notch 8c which is adapted to receive the roller 2 as shown in Fig, 4 of the drawing when he ap a tusin ex ded, n s i and he door op n, th m mb li, oge er wi h he r l er n ovisie a atch t n v nt ma iud a c mpre sion o he ap a tus r a l ordina y pu p es and to re s rdi a y wind pressu agains the d r. H w ve by a g eat: or manual pressure against the door the spring I is extended, the latch 8 moves outwardly as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing and permits the longitudinal compression of the apparatus and the notch 4a together with the screw 5 prevent angular shifting of the bars I and 6 relatively to each other so long as the latch 8 is in latched position as shownin Fig. 4 of the drawing, but permits angular shifting with the longitudinal shifting of the members I and 6. The bar 6 is also provided with an annular slot 60 in which the pin 3 is slidably mounted and roller 2 overhangs the edges thereof. This slot 60 is provided at its one end with an enlarged portion 6d in slight offset relation with the slot 60 to form a slight catch in connection with the pin 3 when the members I and 6 have been shifted towards each other a sufficient distance with the closing of the door D, as will be seen in Fig. 6 of the drawing.

The operation of my apparatus is as follows: Taking Fig. 1 to start with, the door in Fig. 1 is shown supported at substantially 90 degrees fromits closed position. By exerting sufiicient pressure on the door in an attempt to 'close' the same, the latch 8 is forced outwardly by the roller 2 against the tension of the spring "I. The pin 3' supporting said roller 2 shifts in the cam slot 60 towards the offset portionfid at the same time the screw 5 moves outwardly in the slot 4a in the member 4 asshown best in Fig. 5 of the drawing, and when the pin 3 reaches the offset portion 60 the screw 5 is entirely out of the slot 4a and further movement of the door will cause the bars I and 6 to turn to positions at right angles to each other as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing and the continuing of the closing of, the door will cause the bar members I and 6 to come toward a parallelrelation to each other until the door is closed and this action is reversed in opening the door. When the door is open the spring tension on the latch 8 causes the notch 80 in the latch to engage the roller 2 thus holding the door against considerable pressure which may be overcome by a greater manual pressure and overcoming the spring tension of the spring 1.

Although I have shown and described a particular construction, combination, and arrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to be limited to this particular construction, combination, and arrangement, but desire to include in the scope of my invention the construction, combination, and arrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus for holding doors open, a bar with one end pivotally connected to a door, another bar with one end pivotally connected to the door frame above the door, the free end of said bars pivotally connected in overlapped relation to each other, a pair of latch members on each of said bars in engageable relation with a pair of latch members on the other bar, and said latch members including a spring controlled latch on one of said bars engageable by a cam controlled roller on the other of said bars to prevent longitudinal shifting of said bars under ordinary pressure.

2. In an apparatus for holding doors open, a bar with one end pivotally connected to a door, another bar with one end pivotally connected to the door frame above the door, the free end of said bars pivotally connected in overlapped relation to each other, a pair of latch members on each of said bars in engageable relation with a pair of latch members on the other bar, said latch members including a spring controlled latch on one of said bars engageable by a cam controlled roller on the other of said bars, to prevent longitudinal shifting of said bars under ordinary pressure, and also including a slotted latch and guide on one of said bars and a screw onthe other of said bars longitudinally shiftable in the slot.

3. In an apparatus for holding a door open, a bar pivotally connected at one end to the inner side of a door, another bar pivotally connected to the door frame above the door, said bars pivotally connected together near their opposite ends but shiftable slightly longitudinally, and engageable lapped members on each of said bars arranged to prevent longitudinal relative shifting of said bars under ordinary pressure.

4. In an apparatus for holding a door open, a bar pivotally connected at one end to the inner side of a door, another bar pivotally connected to the door frame above the door, said bars pivotally connected together near their opposite ends but shiftable slightly longitudinally, engageable lapped members on each of said bars arranged to prevent longitudinal relative shifting of said bars under ordinary pressure, latch means on each of said bars arranged to prevent angular relative shifting of said bars until they have been longitudinally shifted, and spring tension means in connection with said longitudinally shiftable latch means.

5. In an apparatus for holding a door open, a bar pivotally connected at one end to the inner side of a door, another bar pivotally connected to the door frame above the door, said bars pivotally connected together near their opposite ends but shiftable slightly longitudinally, engageable lapped members on each of said bars arranged to prevent longitudinal relative shifting of said bars under ordinary pressure, latch means on each of said bars arranged to prevent angular relative shifting of said bars until they have been longitudinally shifted and spring tension means in connection with said longitudinally shiftable latch means, and angular slot means in one of said bars in operative relation with one of said latch members to prevent angular shifting of said bars at their pivotal points upon the starting of said longitudinal shifting.

FRANK L. MANN. 

